Scottish Annual bird of prey crime maps published

20 bird of prey crimes were recorded in 2015 including six poisoning incidents, according to the latest bird of prey crime maps published today.

The maps by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland show a slight increase from 2014 which saw 18 bird of prey crimes recorded.

The birds involved in these incidents include buzzards, red kites, peregrine falcons, goshawks, osprey and a hen harrier. Poisoning was the most frequently recorded bird of prey crime, but there were also five shootings, five cases of disturbance, three trapping or attempted trapping offences and one chick theft.

A new map showing the locations of other poison baits has also been published. This map includes 6 poisoning abuse incidents over a five year period from 2011-2015 where no bird of prey was confirmed poisoned, but where the type and location of the bait, and the type of poison used could pose a serious threat to these birds.